Flirting Over Coffee
by Combeferrewriter01
Summary: "You're really short and cute and you buy a cup of black coffee every morning but you make weird faces as you sip it and you never finish it. Are you trying to look mature or something?" meets: A (Shane Madej) writes bad pick up lines on B's coffee cup every time B (Ryan Bergara) goes into the coffee shop.


Shane had been working at the "Grab a Cup Coffee Shop" for two years. He knew he was cliche. A gay drama major from a Midwest state moving to L.A. and working in a coffee shop. He preferred the warmth, the larger and more diverse population was amazing.

Every day, for the past month, a short man who didn't look totally white would come into the shop. Judging by the messenger bag he carries, he was a college student like Shane.

"Usual small black coffee?" Shane smiled.

"Yes, please."

"I don't know how you do it, buddy. I couldn't drink black coffee if someone paid me to." Shane tapped the iPad, following the prompts, to ring the man up. "M'kay. That's $1.25."

The man patted his pockets. "Do you uh… Do you take debit cards for that little?"

"We do not, but consider this one on the house," Shane dismissed.

"I didn't mean-"

"I know you didn't. Don't worry." Shane took a cup and pen so he could write on the side.

"You're the barista that writes the godforsaken pick up lines on my cups, aren't you?" Ryan smiled.

"That I am." Shane wrote on the cup for another few seconds before turning it towards the man. "Today's is: are you my appendix? Because the feeling you cause in my stomach makes me want to take you out."

The man emitted a wheezed giggle. "Have I ever told you my name?"

"You...You have not. But I-" Shane pointed at the nametag on his apron- "am Shane."

"I'm Ryan."

Shane held the cup out for Ryan to fill with a house brew of his choosing. "What do you think then, Ryan?"

"About what?"

"Me taking you out." Shane was beaming.

"You're serious about that? I thought you were joking around." Ryan took a sip from his coffee and Shane couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"Of course I was serious. I mean, you're really short and cute, and you buy a cup of black coffee every morning but you make weird faces as you sip it and you never finish it. Are trying to look mature or something?" Shane didn't have it in him to be bashful about his spewed confession.

Ryan blinked a few times as what Shane said started sinking in. He had been ordering black coffee as a lame attempt to impress the barista. Shane thought he was cute?

"When uh… When did you wanna go out?" Ryan finally managed to get out. He cleared his throat after he asked the question.

"I've got a class at noon that gets out at 2:00. I'm free after that."

Ryan ran his own schedule through his mind. "That should work. I don't have work today and my next is tomorrow at 9:00."

"Oh! Where do you work?" Shane leaned forward on the counter. Ryan thought for a moment about how much such a drastic angle must hurt Shane's back.

"I'm an intern at BuzzFeed. Not the best pay, but I'm hoping to get a job as a video editor right when I graduate." Ryan scratched the back of his head.

Shane backed from the counter and opened the mini-fridge to get the milk out for Ryan. "Make your coffee drinkable, Little Guy." Shane slid the sugar jar so it was beside the half carton of milk.

"Thank you so fucking much." Ryan quickly scooped in two of the spoons of brown and added a splash of milk before stirring it in with one of the skinny black straws.

"Two sugars and half milk," Shane observed. "Noted. So, does 2:30 work for you? I can pick you up from...wherever?"

"I can make it easier on you and pick you up from your lecture hall," Ryan offered.

"Someone's thinking with their galaxy brain. The real question, though, is: what do want to do?"

"Wanna watch a movie at my place? I can get snacks-"

"I'm bringing popcorn. I've got so much of that shit in my dorm. My roommate's probably sick of the dorm always smelling like popcorn but I've been in that room for three years and she's a freshie so she can fight me."

Ryan laughed. "How'd you get roomed with a girl?"

"I'm in the LGBT mostly dorm building. She's a lesbian and got in a fight with the girl was boarded with, my roommate-he's bi-moved into his girlfriend's dom so I had an open bed," Shane explained. "Do you not have a class? You've been in here for like 20 minutes."

"I had three classes yesterday, and two tomorrow so I'm supposed to be doing homework today," Ryan shrugged.

"Ah...three class days. I don't miss those even a little bit. You're a Freshie, then?"

"Yeah. I graduated high school in the Spring. College is a lot more different than the school guidance counsellors made it out to be." Ryan adjusted the strap of his messenger bag. "So what hall am I picking you up from?"

"You know where Keats is?"

"Mhm."

"Alright. I'll meet you by the front doors at 2:10?"

"Sounds good to me," Ryan confirmed. He looked around and noticed how dead the place was. "It's morning, I would have thought it would've been busier."

"Well, morning classes aren't until 8:30, the actual morning rush isn't until 9:00 and people trickle in through the day. You just beat everyone else." Shane filled a cup with coffee after lining the bottom of it with milk and $3 in the cash register. He took a sip. "How'd you get an internship at BuzzFeed if you're a Freshman?"

Ryan chuckled. "I got amazing recommendations from my English and Computer teachers."

Shane laughed. "You shouldn't have any trouble getting hired there for real, then."

"Yeah… I need to actually graduate college to get an actual position. Maybe I can join the AV Club for practice in editing or some shit."

The bell over the door jingled and a few half-asleep college kids fumbled their way into the coffee shop.

"I'll let you get back to work, Shane." Ryan smiled again, stepping away from the counter.

"I'll see you are 2:10," Shane reminded.

"See you then, Legs."


End file.
